Alliance
by AkatsukiStalkers-RebelQueens
Summary: they entered, and it rained. the storm picked up as they were given their entrance. the one meant to guide them was nearly killed by a flash of lightning. doubt struck their hearts at the chance to live peacefully in this village, the omens were clear enough. despite their relinquished name, the blooding morning dawn would haunt them- but she was going to have her say. Author: Neko
1. Chapter 1

**Alliance**

Sakura stood there, Naruto and Sasuke at her side, and the rest of rookie nine, now called the Jonin 9, stood behind her, as well as Team Gui. Behind them all the other ninja, from Konahamaru's age group- the new rookie 9, to well beyond Kakashi's age group. Tsunade stood just in front of her and her team, Gaara and the other Kage next to her.

They watched as the nine, black cloaked s-rank ninjas glided toward them, the familiar red and white clouds fluttering like flags in the windy drizzle. Thick lines of mixed shinobi were in two lines on either side of their path, the silent citizens of Konaha separated from the marching criminals by them.

Tsunade stepped forward a few paces, and Sakura followed quickly behind, standing at her side. Naruto and Sasuke followed quickly, standing side by side a foot or so behind them. Her silky pink strands were dripping, her ninja uniform soaked. She was vaguely jealous of the thick black cloaks keeping the 9 that met the four in the center of the muddy space dry and warm. But not that much.

When Tsunade's voice rose, it boomed over the murmurs that quickly silenced from the ninja of all the great villages.

"Akatsuki!" they dipped their heads respectfully. "Today, you have agreed to rejoin the Ninja code. To start over, and release the rank of S-class, and to relinquish the title of criminal! Starting today, you are brought to the leaf for rebirth and reattaching to the path of justice, to learn the ways of peace, instead of domination!" loud cheers screamed from the villagers. "are you ready for your second, last chance?"

The man at the head of the group stepped forward, removing his hat. Drops of water slid from tips of his wild orange hair as they touched the dry, quickly soaked strands. He had to raise his voice to call out over the wild rain and the flash of thunder. "Akatsuki has agreed to your terms, to take down our common enemy."

Tsunade turned slightly to her right, putting her hand on Sakura's back. She pushed the girl forward a step, and Sakura stood, facing the Akatsuki's stares bravely. "Akatsuki, this is the Next Sanin, my old Apprentice, Sakura Haruno. By vote of the Kage, she is to be your Guard and Caretaker."

Sakura dipped her head, her rehearsed line clear in her mind as she forced her voice to raise over the whipping wind. "I will be your Sensei, and it will be my responsibility to keep you in the code of a ninja." She turned to the surrounding people, rotating to look to them all. "I am no longer a member of Team 7, nor Team Kakashi! But from this day, I will be a member of Team Dawn! I now take the responsibility for Akatsuki's actions."

After the crowd roared its approval, Sakura turned back to Akatsuki, facing Pein directly. Old memories flashed in her head of this man, who once destroyed this entire village. They had rebuilt it during the Ninja war against Madara, or as he was really Obito, to every detail- from the underground villager's escape, to every road and village shop, and every clan's district.

She forced the images away, facing Pein, who looked her in the eyes. "We thank you, Ms. Haruno, for your volunteering." Tsunade continued.

Tsunade motioned forward the two boys from behind her, and they stepped up to Sakura's sides. "these are faces you all know well." Tsunade bellowed not just to Akatsuki, but to everyone. "Naruto Uzumachi, holder of the Nine Tail's, next member to the Sanin, and-" a slight smirk came to her lips- "your next Hokage. Sasuke Uchiha, the next Sanin, ex rouge, and leader of Leaf's ANBU and the Foundation!"

"We will be in charge of Guarding and watching over Akatsuki secondary to Sakura Haruno, with our team, Team Twighlight!" Sasuke announced loudly.

"We shall be ready to settle any problems in the case of Akatsuki vs the public! For the villages!" Naruto exclaimed, and the villagers cheered. The two boys turned, walking back to a group, including Sai and Neji, among the front of the leaf ninja.

Gaara walked forward, the other Kage following, until he was beside Tsunade, and the other Kage were in a line behind them. The Kazakage's sea foam eyes washed over the solemn members, before landing on the peering blue and brown eyes standing side by side.

His gaze returned to Pein, "The Kage have all agreed to set aside grudges." He stated calmly, though a few mutters of disagreement sounded from the ninja around them. "but." He said loudly, and they silenced quickly. "They will not be tolerated again. We leave you in the hands of Haruno so as to keep you out of trouble." He said, his eyes flicking to the solid pinkette standing in front of Pein. "But it will be you who is punished for misdeeds, not her."

Pein nodded. "we are in agreement, Kazakage-san." Pein replied, his eyes traveling from the line of kage, to the 19 year old Kunoichi. "I'm sure Akatsuki is in good hands."

Sakura dipped her head, a light dusting of pink showing her embarrassment at the praise. "your home from now on is the disused Haruno District, Pein-san." She told him quickly, while the kage ended the meeting. She turned around, leading her new 'team' for the group of leaf ninja, as the villages split to head home.

Gaara flashed over to be in front of her, patting her head. "proud of you, little sis." He murmured. "now keep these new Genin in line, kay?"

"can do, bro. just tell Kankuro not to go picking fights next time he's here, I may be responsible, but so is your brother if something happens." She chuckled, punching him in the arm.

He smirked at her, flashing a glare at the group who waited just behind her. "As I said, I hold no grudge. But you better watch your tail." He mumbled, flashing away to his group of ninja, ushering them into neat rows.

She turned back to glance at the former Akatsuki, who watched him work his shinobi into an orderly fashion before continuing to follow her. Naruto and Sasuke met her at the edge of the leaf's group.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called with a grin. "your speech was great!" Naruto's ninja outfit had changed. He wore a pitch black T-shirt and black ninja pants, an orange scarf-sash around his waist with his Shinobi alliance force head band on it and his normal leaf one on his black cloth on his head, and a long red coat with black flames at the bottom, just like how Tsunade said his father, Minato, had looked. Except, the flaming coat-thing was white with red flames.

"Quite down, dope." Sasuke shook his head, his arms crossed. He, too, had changed. He wore an open dark blue coat without sleeves, bandages on his lower arms, black ninja pans, and a thick red rope tide to his right side in a basic knot, with his leaf head band tide around his head.

Sakura's ninja outfit had changed, too, over the years. She wore a similar dress to when she was a Genin; only when her favorite color changed from red to blue, she decided a new dress color would be nice. Ino and Hinata had taken her out and tried many colors- blue, which clashed with her hair, green and yellow she couldn't stand, and orange was Naruto's thing.

She ended up with this mixture of blackish-purple, like a midnight like color. The neck was cut a little lower, and it made a circle at the tip, the white line edges made the Haruno simple on her chest. It sloped far down on her back, stopping just above her chest bindings, yet revealing her shoulder blades.

It had straps, not sleeves, and on her arms were white wrappings, and the same purple-black color fingerless fighting gloves. Her shorts were a darker black, and the bottom of her dress was connected and much longer on her left half, being only as long as her hand on her right. Like Naruto, she had her shinobi alliance metal band as a reminder, attached to her right hip, and wore her leaf one like always, though with a purple-black head band. She even had taken up the habit of painting her nails a dark blue shade, and she wore two charms on a black cord around her neck- Sasuke's Uchiha symbol, and a red swirl from what Naruto had told her was the land of whirlpool's symbol, and the Uzumachi clan's sign.

On Naruto's left hand just below his knuckle, Sasuke's openly visible right chest half, and between her revealed shoulder blades, was 7 (in kanji) tattooed. Under those, was the name of their team, Team Kakashi. Beside it, their ANBU tattoos. And lastly, bellow those were white cloth taped over fresher tattoos- the sign of the Sanin. They had chosen what it looked like, since the previous Sanin hadn't created one, not expecting new Sanin to arrive.

They had spent a long time, figuring out what to put. Tsunade had decided, she wanted the symbol circled around them and their beliefs. Not the previous Sanin, what with Orochimaru turning… well, Orochimaru, Juriya having been a perverted old man killed by his own student, and her, a horrible bet.

The symbol had turned into a clash of their clans. The bottom, white part of the Uchiha clan's design, only blue. A curve followed the outline of the other part of the Uchiha sign, thick and white, like a piece of the Haruno sign. That shape was placed over the red, swirled circle of the Uzumachi.

The three, 1-person clans would become the emblems of the Sanin, and the three had decided that they would pass down the title to future apprentices who fit the trait of each clan. The inheritor to the toads and holder of the Uzumachi place would be the trait of loyalty. The take up the Snake and hold the Uchiha place, was intelligence and strategy. Lastly, the Snail and the Haruno clan would represent care and passion.

The tattoo was still fresh, she was going to be able to take off the patch soon enough. She remembered the vow the three of them had taken, that they would get the marks of successful, happy teams they had been in. team 7, team Kakashi, their ANBU group, and the Sanin. Vaguely, she wondered if team Dawn would be added to her list. She looked over her shoulder at the odd group behind her.

After reading up on their file, she was able to pick out a few members. The hunched over form of Sasori's outer puppet, the man she had killed. The tallest one- Kisame, she could also tell by the large sword. He committed suicide during the war. The one with the wide open cloak, pendant and the scythe was Hidan. Team Asuma had buried him alive, but late into the war, somehow a white Zetsu had managed to dig him up, and the immortal walked again. The only form with a chest full, was definitely the female member, Konan. Tobi had killed her himself, when she refused to offer up Pein's dead body before they were all revived.

Sakura glanced over to Pein again, the only one not wearing his head cover, his hair flat and soaked. They had been given information that Tobi-Obito wanted the Rinnegan. They had been right. Over Pein's left eye, his headband –without the metal, slashed rain symbol attached- was low and covering it.

She turned her head back to 'team Twighlight'. All were ANBU level; she could see the tattoos on each of the 6. Naruto and Sasuke, of course, and Sai and Neji. There were also two transfers from other villages, as agreed by all the kage, from both Suna, and Kumo.

"Ok, Team Twighlight." Sakura said, blinking at her Sanin teammates. "I'm going to bring team dawn back to the old Haruno District." She turned on her heals, looking over the cloaked group. "The district is connected partly to the hokage's district." She began, as team Twighlight flashed away.

"The Haruno's are mostly extinct, as are the Uchiha and Uzumachi clans. So, no one lives there anymore, other than me. It has been arranged for each of you has your own building. St the arch, which I'll show you, is where the main house is, and where you can find me if you need me." She explained quickly. "Are there any questions?"

The scythe wielder, Hidan, sneered at her. "Do I have to raise my hand?" the one next to him elbowed him hard, glaring. "shut up, idiot."

Sakura blinked, sighing. "In the words of Shika, how troublesome…" she muttered under her breath. Speaking up, she added, "If you do, feel free to ask on the way there."

As she started down the street, the ex-Akatsuki following, one voice spoke up. "What exactly is our 'Sensei' going to teach us, hm?" she recognized the northern tick she had heard on many of her dignitary trips up in the northern's upper class. She knew this would be the blonde, Deidara, whom she had only vaguely met during the Gaara retrieval mission. Sasuke had fought this guy, and he had killed himself trying to kill the Uchiha.

Then she turned her thoughts to the question he had asked. "Well, I'm assuming that you all have fine enough skills in many aspects." She stated, earning a 'duh' from Hidan, "so we will brush through the assessment. But Konaha requires you to have a curtain level of medical knowledge to reach your next level. Then there's written exams, physicals, and emotional torture tests… have fun with Ibiki." She added with a shiver.

"Are you not the leaf's top medic?" came an emotionless voice. It sounded similar to Sasuke's in sound, so she figured it was Itachi.

Sakura murmured her agreement, "I run the hospital, field staff, and medical research." She replied. "it was one of the reasons I was chosen to be in Dawn group. Your leader has explained that most of you either have a temper, or are just plain rough."

"Will that be a problem for you, Pinky? Don't want you getting hurt." came the humored voice of the tallest figure, Kisame.

She looked back at them with a smirk, before looking ahead again. "Oh, trust me. If you catch me in a foul mood, it will be you we have to worry about, _blue-boy_." She shot back, imagining sending a few through the wall. Somehow, she knew she would a few times before they learned not to mess with her.

"Well, this conversation is fucking _glorious_, but when will we fucking get there?" Hidan asked, muttering as he glanced up into the freezing rain.

Sakura was about to answer with a sharp retort, when she was jolted, literally, jolted from her spot as a loud bang crashed deafeningly, and she was blinded for a second as she felt the heat.

She lay, propping her back out of the mud with her elbows, with her mint green eyes wide. Beside her, getting up slowly, was Pein. The injured eye hadn't slown him down at all, thank god- or… thank him, since he called himself god, or maybe Jashin, because of Hidan- and he offered her a hand to help her up.

She took it gratefully, and as she got to her feet, she looked at the smoking spot, where she had stood moments before.

"That's not a good omen…" she muttered, glancing up at the lit sky, brightened only by the lighting striking again. Except now, sunset was just ending, and red, salty blood streaked the sky. It was so foreboding, she could practically see the danger of the futer in scenes before her eyes. "Not a good one at all…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Alliance**

Neko: hi-ya, readers, nya!

Hannah: I hope you've liked my idea for a story!

Brendy: and Brendy helped!

Tobi: cause Brendy's a good girl! Right, wolf-chan?

Brendy: right! *giggles*

Hidan: … ok, we are stuck with our twit, but why on earth do you guys put up with _her_?

Seconds later…

Hidan: *tied and gagged, swords stabbed into all angles, head cut off and screaming colorful language*

Brendy: *sticks tongue out*

Neko: that's why, ehehehe.

Tobi: (Madara-Obito thoughts: sexy little vixen…) yay! Go wolf-chan!

Sakura, after her little near death experience, thanked Pein quickly, dipping her head gratefully. She glanced up at the sky again, still streaked with the red stripes of the disappearing sun. The striking red was disappearing, though, as the sky grew darker and thicker grey- yet the lightning wasn't letting up, and instead the rain pelted harder and colder.

She bit her lip once more before waving them to follow as she broke into a jog to get to the Haruno district much quicker.

The group moved quickly, as they began to freeze colder and colder. Curse this, why did it have to rain, today of all days? Someone would catch hyperthermia before they had even gotten to the district.

She led them along a long, red brick wall, nearly three times Kisame's height. It wrapped all the way around the Haruno district, stopping at the Konaha wall, and the mountain that made up the edge of the village. The district was all the way in the north east corner, (if the kage' mountain was the north and the gate was the south, like in a lot of pictures of Konaha. I'm not really sure which part is north in the anime…) so the wall only had to make up two sides of it.

Back when they were plentiful enough to populate the area, Haruno's were a civilian group known for secrets and science. They weren't ninja, but were known to have extremely good chakra control. When she was of age to join the academy, they had shrunken so they only could occupy a 6th of the compound. A disease had spread through them, not to mention a lot were lost in the battle of the kyuubi.

By the time she had graduated, there were only 3 small families in the whole district.

And by the time war broke out against Obito-Tobi, only Sakura and her mom were left. Her mother was still alive, but she didn't live in the Haruno district any more. She had died in the Pein attack, but whatever the leader had done after talking with Naruto, her mother was revived.

As she led them through double doors on the wall, "Haruno District" written on a banner above it, she recalled that Pein had used the jutsu again.

During the end of the war, the re-animated pair of Itachi and Nagato helped fight alongside Naruto. Itachi had apparently broken the two of them free of listening to Kabuto with a crow he had hid inside Naruto a long time ago. The two went with him, and helped take care of Tobi. Itachi ended up dying a second death as he took down Kabuto, but not before setting Sasuke straight.

The battle had taken a long time, but in the end, Naruto might have lost if it wasn't for Nagato and the Akatsuki. After Naruto had been severely wounded to the point he couldn't get up, Nagato took on the fight by himself why she desperately tried to heal her blonde friend. And, just as she was finishing up the healing's first stage, Tobi gave Nagato a deadly blow. As he was dying, he used that jutsu again. Many ninja rose, taking the tide of the war. All of Akatsuki rose up, no longer under the control of Kabuto since he had died.

And, as amazing as it was, Nagato died himself seconds before the souls returned- and his returned, as well.

At first, they didn't even know Nagato had come back for the third time. The body he was born to disintegrated, but because of the jutsu, his soul was determined to return. It moved into the Pein body, and here he was, now he was the ginger haired, ring eyed, piercing covered Pein.

She remembered how Naruto was on his feat defiantly, fighting side by side with those who had once been enemies, who were fuming at this 'Tobi' character. Naruto didn't give it a second thought to question them, putting his trust in Nagato who had put his own faith in the blonde. The Akatsuki didn't shrink away from the challenge Pein called them to, and fearlessly attacked the masked ninja. And, she charged in with them.

She sped up the sidewalk, headed for her own house. She glanced back behind her, picking out a red headed member in the group. She noted that his eyes darted away from her, that he had been staring. She remembered that battle so well. Somehow, as if to pull up some drama from the battle, she ended up back to back with Sasori as the many Zetsu clones rushed the group. Their eyes caught each other, and it was like they had never fought.

Having fought before, the pair knew the other's fighting styles. And, even though she was the one to have killed him the first time, the fought side by side, back to back, precision poisoned puppets to shattering, shocking strength. She had to admit, the battle was hard against him, but fighting side by side, the red and pink pair was powerful. The Zetsu clones fought and fell. When Pein found the original, two-colored pair locked up and released him, they had the real Zetsu on their side, too.

Together, Naruto and Pein struck down Tobi. And like that, the war was won. Naruto put in a good word to all the Kage, and they scheduled a meet with Pein in two days. And then, Pein arranged this little fiasco.

She stopped, taking a second to pant as she reached the roofed walkways. She sighed, the rest of Akatsuki catching up and taking their own couple of second of air for deprived lungs. A run through the entire village was a fair jog; it seemed, even to S-class ninja.

She walked them casually down the wooden walkway. The wood was old and creaked; looking like it might give way under foot as streams swished in the mud and few wet weeds beyond the cracks into the darkness.

The walkway branched every which way, breaking off into small, circular houses. She loved the Haruno District because of how it had always been. The beautiful, well kept walk ways were everywhere, and the design was magnificent.

You didn't simply move out when you grew up. A Haruno's house was only one room. A nice, larger sized bedroom, like a master bed room, a really good sized bathroom, and a closet. Each little house was circular; the outside wooden like a hut, but the inside was beautiful and decorated however you like.

The Haruno's may have been secretive, but one of said secrets was that no mater gender, age, or personality, they all had a love of intricate design, beauty, and nature.

The little houses were all in a circle, and connected to a large, square building in the middle. Each circle of little houses and the big main rooms was for each family. There would be about 20 small rooms, all of which only attached to main buildings. Those were connected to pathways, so to find someone's house, you would look for the number on the sign on the path that lead to a main building, then the letter of the room.

Her house was at 1a, section 1 was the head of the Haruno's place. With that love of beauty, it had been right in front of a great, shining silver arch about a third higher than the wall itself. Bellow it, there was a wooden gate, only on the Haruno's side was it painted with highly detailed flowers- blue bells, roses, violets, poppies, and a few Sakura petals. The gate lead strait into the Kage District, currently residence to all the Kages, so it was very occupied, because they were here for Akatsuki's showing in Konaha.

Inside the main building for each housing section, was a good sized kitchen where 3 could cook at once for 6 separate families. There was a nice dining room, a living room, an outdoor sitting area, bathroom, a built-in hot spring because, as I said, Haruno's required the relaxation they wanted, and worked hard for their slice of luxury.

Also, there was an addict. Oh, the addict. The Haruno's secret pride and joy. A hidden stairway no one but a Haruno could find, and it was perfect up there. Then the basement, which was also hidden to entry, was every Haruno's secret lab. They were known for science as well as secrets, of course.

She finally found the '1' sign outside her section's entrance, and lead them into the main building via the croaking walk way, along the wooden outer appearance.

She sighed as she slid open the door, into the hard wood floored mud room. She reached over to the wall, and flicked the switch.

Nothing. And, Hidan of course, decided to complain as the Akatsuki shuffled into the small room.

She whistled loudly, effectively cutting off his loud mouthed complain, as she grabbed a candle stick on a holder. With a little trick Sasuke had carefully taught her thanks to Uchiha roots, she blew a small breath of flame no bigger than a cotton ball.

The candle lit, and she turned to them, their faces dimly lit as they had taken off their hats and stood in the flickering light of the flame. "The Haruno district survived Pein's attack, so it's still very old here. The electricity is set to be repaired for us this week… but for now, anyone knows lightning style…? Even just a little bolt?" she asked, hopefully.

One of the buffer of them stepped forward, the mask no longer on his face like the brief time she had seen him before he was Naruto's new jutsu's test subject. Recalling how he had the power of five elements, she motioned him forward toward the electric box after removing a wall painting that hid it from view.

She pointed to a small outlet, and the stitched man sent a bolt through it that practically lit the house on its own. She remember quite vividly that moments ago, a bolt at a much large scale would have fried her, had it not been for fast reacting Pein.

In a few milliseconds, the lights flashed on in the mud room. She carefully replaced the humming bird painting onto the wall, before whirling around when someone touched her shoulder.

She found it was the blue haired girl, Konan. She had never actually seen Konan before, let alone expected such a deep voice for such a feminine woman, coupled with the lightness Ino might have when gossiping about a hot guy she saw. "Sakura-chan, do you by chance have any clothes a little… dryer…?" she asked, her face a little flush. Cold rain, drenched clothes, she had her arms tight over her chest as she asked in a whisper.

Sakura gave a light gasp, "my bad, Konan-chan," she replied, replying with the same given suffix, she turned around and grabbed a robe she remembered having left there when she looked outside and could tell it would rain. She had intended to use it for herself after showing everyone their rooms for the night, but she obliged and gave it to the girl.

Thankfully wrapping herself in the warm purple cloth, Sakura left her shoes at the door and requested they do the same, because team Twighlight had sent Sasuke and Sai over to thoroughly clean up the place as well as each of the boy's room's and customize it for them slightly. Of course, both emo-boys complained, but she knocked them upside the head with a warning that these guys would be unfamiliar with the room without the cleaning up.

With that, she slid open the door to the living room. She nearly burst out laughing as half of them jaw dropped.

She blinked, looking into it herself. It looked the same as when she and the boys left that morning to prep the boy's bed rooms.

The carpet beyond was nice, thick, and dark brown, upon stepping on it, it's like you just let your feet take a nap on a cloud. The fireplace toward the back of the room was made out of carefully placed white stones, pink and purple petals swirled carelessly on it. The dark wooden table in front of it was decorated with a mini Sakura tree Naruto had given her just that morning as a good luck present- completely out done in expensive-ness was Neji and Hinata's huge flat screen TV that was on the wall above the fire place. There was another sliding door right to the left of the little set up, that would lead to the outdoor sitting area.

The rest of the room was a little open, leading up to the dining room's door. The walls were expertly painted by Sai, a marvel of colors, but not too much, over the white walls. Yeah, she would agree that the light fixture was a little much, the chandelier Sasuke had gotten her with different jewels- ruby, onyx, emeralds, her favorite sapphires, topaz, and none of the ones she hated, the pearl or the diamond. And, hanging in the center, was the new Sanin's symbol. Hanging around it was the Haruno clan's, Uchiha clan's, Uzumachi Clan's, and the golden metal was decorated with the different village symbols.

Flashy, but it was thoughtful.

And, turning to them, she saw what each of them was actually staring at. The light fixture's newest additions; the beautiful stain glass moon for team Twighlight and the dazzling stain glass red clouds sprinkled throughout it.

Sasori, one of the shocked faces, turned to her. "Ok. I will respect you are strong, and maybe that your rich. But… why…?"

She rolled her eyes. "One, good. I'm very strong. Two, no, I'm not rich, but I'm good friends with rich Hyuuga people, rich next-hokage-hero-of-town people, rich current-hokage-people, and rich police-chief-ANBU-captain people." She said, with an amused smirk to herself at her choice of friends as she waved them to enter. As they did, she added, "and three, Team dawn is my new team. They are part of my family, and that's what Sasuke's overly dressy chandelier is for." She said, as they all complied and stepped onto the soft carpet.

She heard a murmur of comfort from the blonde, while Kakuzu raised a brow at her. "Why would they spend so much on a single chandelier?!" Itachi looked at her vaguely, his eyes flicking between her and the chandelier. "And why would my younger brother get you something so… fancy…"

Pein remained standing under it, staring at the dancing, sparkling clouds, and then looked around the room. "Do not answer their question if you choose not to, Sakura-sensei," he stated calmly, and her cheeks flushed lightly as Akatsuki jaw dropped at the suffix he had just used. "But, might you please tell us how we are all to fit into such a small home…?"

She dipped her head, "ah, yes, Pein-san. The Haruno district is a bit complex in design, I can show you your rooms really soon. But, first I would think it would be good to get you all dry and give you all some food." She said softly.

She glided through the room, hesitating to close an open window she had glanced out that morning, as well as some blankets she kept folded up next to her couch. She set those down on the wood table, before whisking through another door.

The kitchen she entered was great. The kitchen had full updates and a nice looking brown-black color scheme with tints of red here or there. Beyond a little breakfast bar with 5 seats, was a good sized table, 15 place settings, and beautifully painted red and black china to match her color scheme.

She stepped lightly through the hard wood floor of the kitchen area, flicking on the light as she quickly moved to the fridge. Aside from isles of ramen from Naruto, she wasn't quite sure what she had that they might like.

She decided to start up some tea, plum rice balls, tuna rice balls, chicken rice balls, and a couple of dango, and as she did so, the door slid open from the living room. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing a rather bored looking Hidan.

"You like beef, pork, or some sort of fish?" She asked, still going over what to make as a main dish. "I got plenty, so whatda ya want, loud mouth?" she casually teased, stirring the cooking rice.

"Fucking pork ribs?" he asked, sitting down without really paying much attention to her name calling.

She smirked, "you can fuck pork ribs?" she asked, pulling out said food from the freezer.

"harty-har-har," he snorted "you come up with that shit by yourself?"

"You said it, not me." She pointed out. Then, shrugging, she added, "So, pork ribs. Gottcha."

The door slid open again. She didn't bother turning around, instead focused intensely on making her dango into perfect balls. Perfectionist, yes, yes.

"What is cookin', hm?" she gave a little jump, dropping her dango, when the voice came right next to her ear.

It smashed into a little mess on her counter.

"Hmm, maybe dango pancakes." She snorted to herself, ignoring him really, as she flicked at the little catastrophe on her work space. "You can have that one, Deidara." She added, not thanking him for crushing it.

He chuckled, snagging the light green pancake. "I don't have a problem with that, yeah." He purred as he made for the breakfast nook, beside Sasori, who she must not have noticed come in.

She got the tea and poured a few cups with a grin. Her favorite tea, ruby tea. Tasted savory, with a sweet after taste.

She balanced the three poured cups on her arm, slid the pot of tea onto her hand with the handle, and picked up a bunch of cups.

"Have you ever thought of being a fucking waiter? You'd get a lot of fucking tips." Hidan chuckled with a smirk as she handed out the tea, setting down the other cups and the pit.

"I don't need any tips on fucking, thank you, Hidan." She said with a grin.

He snorted, amused, while Deidara said in the back ground, 'buuuurn, un.'

She blinked, setting her last cup of poured tea in front of Sasori, who was still watching her carefully, and hadn't said anything yet. She looked at him for a minute, until he looked away again, then she picked up the container of sugar cubes and set it so they could reach it before heading back to start making the different rice balls.

"You know, you're really awkward, Danna, yeah." Deidara commented on the little moment.

Sakura chuckled. "well it's not every day you end up fighting an epic battle side by side with the person who killed you, then end up living in her house and having her make dinner for you, is it?" she pointed out, thoroughly amused with how things have worked out.

"I have to fucking admit, that's pretty funny shit! You must have been pretty fuckin' puny to lose to a pink haired girl, Sasori!" Hidan laughed, and Sasori shot him a glare from his seat.

Sakura beat him to the 'punch' though, nailing him without any chakra in the face, making him stumble half way across the room.

"Shut up, Hidan." She sighed, annoyed. "He was a bitch to kill, don't mock what took every fiber of my being to bring down- it makes me seem like a wimp." He glared at her, and she returned it ten-fold.

Deidara laughed crazily, and Sasori smirked as the jashinist slunk back into his seat with a suppressed growl bubbling in his throat. "Down boy." Sakura cooed as she heard the low, dog-like sound when she went back to the cooking meat he had requested. "I might just give all this to everyone else instead." She threatened, earning a dark glare, yet he silenced.

"This chick is cool, yeah." Deidara declared, grinning.


	3. Chapter 3

**Alliance**

Neko: return of the stalkers~!

Hannah: party~!

Brendy: Dancing like a rock star because Brendy can do what she wants!

Akatsuki: …

Alex: *awkward laughing* don't judge, just keep calm and party on.

Sakura rounded the still-wet Akatsuki into the dining room when the food was done, noticing only Konan was using any of the offered items, and that was the robe. No one had touched any of the blankets, and she noticed a few of them were shivering ever so slightly, with goose pumps on their visible hands and wrists. They hadn't even taken off their soaked coats, and there were a few spots of water on the carpet and wood floor.

With a frown, she set all the foods onto the table, before looking around at the people standing awkwardly in the dining room. A vain throbbed on her forehead, and she twitched. "Ok, everyone strip." She demanded, ignoring the stunned looks. Catching the awkward sentence's implications, she added, "You're all soaked, and since you clearly missed the part where I said you need to get dry, I want all the wet cloaks in that basket." She ordered, pointing to the white container she had at the door to the living room from after doing the last of the laundry last night.

There was a little awkward shuffling, but a few obliged- Deidara, Sasori, Hidan, Pein, and Kakuzu. The black-and-white Zetsu stood in the back of the group with just this slightest shade of light pink on his white half, Kisame didn't look like he was all that comfortable, Konan had already changed hers for the robe, and she noticed Itachi was nowhere to be found.

Blinking at the awkward, soaked-coated pair of males, she sighed. "And if you're not descant, say so."

They both silently raised their hands.

Earning a few chuckles from a few of the easier-going Akatsuki, Sakura face palmed. "Grab a towel from the pile I put on the coffee table and dry off some, meanwhile I need to find out where Uchiha went."

"I'm right here." She jumped, twirling around in surprise, to see the ravenette just behind her in his own soaked-coated glory, his hair wet and flat against his head with the occasional drip from his chin. She blinked, suppressing her blush with failure, diverting her gaze to the light grey cat on his shoulder with bright green eyes, and a dark purple collar with a shiny silver bell and golden tag.

"You found Mint?" she asked, tipping her head to the side slightly. He nodded, and she sighed, stealing the fluffy She-cat from his shoulder, she told him lightly, "time to strip down, Itachi. And go ahead and eat, I'll come back to take you to your rooms in a few moments."

Leaving them to deal with getting the wet cloaks to the bin and sit at the table and grab some food, she peered out the kitchen door to see Zetsu and Kisame with towels around their waists and ringing out their cloaks at the door, over the outside's board walk.

Raising a brow while walking into the room with the cat in her arms, she smirked. "You certainly dress nicely while at another's house." She commented, earning a smirk from Kisame and snort from Zetsu's darker half.

Continuing past them, and feeling their eyes trained on her as she squeezed out the door, she padded close to the wooden outside of the house so she didn't get sprayed by the heavy rain, until she had found her way to the room labeled with a C. 1c is and has been her room since she was 3, when her dad finally thought she was old enough. She could still remember sneaking back into her parent's rooms, 1b, all the times when she had a nightmare or saw a scary movie.

Sliding open her door, she flicked on a light, and was met with her beautiful, light blue themed room. The glass door to the little back porch was still open, and she closed it, before setting her cat down on the dark blue comforter on her bed. The walls of her room were elegantly painted with swirls of midnight blue and different purples, and white, shining stars. The ceiling was white, and just the faintest grey paintings made it look like the surface of the moon. Sai had made this for her, a Christmas present.

Walking out of the room once the cat was snuggled comfortably, Sakura went into the house via a back door, finding herself in the kitchen again, with a large group of Akatsuki. Some of them were wearing nothing beyond ninja pants, others fully dressed, and Zetsu and Kisame standing to the side in wet cloaks, patted dry just a little but still soaked. They were all still soaked.

"Come on, let's get you to your rooms so you can get some warmer clothes." She said simply, crossing the kitchen to grab a paper that said which room was whose.

They followed her out, and she padded to the first room on the left, 1a, and slid open the door. "This room is set up for Pein." She announced.

The ginger nodded to her, padding forward. Sakura looked at him, "there are a few sets of clothing in the dresser, and if they are not to your liking there will be time within the week to find more in the town. Each room has its own closet, small back porch, and bathroom." She explained quickly, Pein nodded again and padded quietly in.

Sakura lead the rest of Akatsuki on, pointing out her own house after skipping her parent's old room, then stopping at 1d. "Konan-chan, this is your assigned room." the pinkette said simply. The bluenette nodded with a smile, disappearing into her room.

1e for Deidara, 1f for Sasori, 1g for Kakuzu, 1h for Hidan, 1i for Itachi, 1j for Kisame and 1k for Zetsu. And after everyone was tucked away, she found her way back to the main room.

With a sigh that somehow ended up as a yawn, she easily picked up the hamper stuffed with wet cloaks, and headed into the back room and tossed them into the washer. Cold water, no bleeding of the ultra dark colors, thank you.

After loading it with soap and closing the lid so it started, she sighed, pulling herself up to sit on the white machine. In the words of Konaha's resident genius: how troublesome.

Now that Akatsuki had moved in, she wasn't quite certain what EXACTLY she was to do. Become a house wife? Cook and clean. She was _supposed_ to be their new leader, Pein equally in charge of them as she was. But before she would be able to bring them on even a simple D-rank mission (which would severely be a misuse of Akatsuki skills), there was so much to do, and she didn't even know where to start in proving to the village and it's civilians that Akatsuki had completely changed…

Possibly a self assigned mission. Yes, that's exactly what they would need. And what better to prove to the civvies Akatsuki could be trusted, and then something that would directly benefit the normal people in a good way that they would plainly see? Most citizens didn't see shinobi missions such as escorts or assassinations to benefit them, when the money the village was paid to do so went to repairs and maintenance in rebuilding this village after the war.

Well… let's show these civvies Akatsuki can be direct with their work.


	4. Chapter 4

**Alliance**"you want us… to do _what_, un?"

The looks the pinkette was receiving were almost comical, the amount of shock and disbelief.

The pinkette sighed with an exasperated chuckle, leaning on the counter in the kitchen. The table in front of her currently occupied Team dawn's members, the surface of the wood newly cleaned after they had eaten breakfast. "Look. This is a self assigned C-rank mission. And it's not that bad."

"If its self assigned, we aren't getting paid." Kakuzu murmured unhappily. "This is charity work."

"Yes, it is charity work. However, you will be paid with whatever you make over the assigned quota." Sakura responded, and the stitched man seemed a little more willing.

"I don't wannaaaaaa, hmm." Deidara whined unhappily from where he was propping his head up on a hand with a pout.

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. "Hey, this is the quickest way to earn enough of the leaf's citizens and shinobi trust. There is no way you can be sent out of the village without it."

Hidan grumbled unhappily, "this whole alliance shit only means I can't sacrifice anyone…"

Sakura nodded her head, however creeped out by the sentence, but she needed to get his understanding. "Not unless you sent out on a mission request to kill someone outside the village. And you can't get one without support. And being sent on a mission to kill is better than being in tiny bits in a hole in the ground, Hidan." She couldn't change Hidan's love of killing, but she could at least re direct it to those _outside_ the village.

He muttered curses of agreement; meanwhile Konan tapped her finger on her chin in thought. "So this is only to get the villager's trust?"

Sakura shrugged, "the quota money will go to the reconstruction of the village. After Pein crushed it, there are still a lot of people without homes or jobs because there are no businesses. A lot of leaf's population is staying in inns outside the village, or cheap tents in neighbor-like clusters with camp fires throughout as if their refugees. Things are also rather unsanitary; bringing disease with the cramped quarters alongside Konaha's giant population. The money is going to firstly the construction of homes, then to the hospital."

"I apologize, Sakura-san." Pein stated simply, grayish ringed eyes on her and ignoring the odd looks he received with always either speaking to her like she was either equal or his teacher.

As always, he reacted to nothing.

Sakura nodded his way, waving him off. "You are already excused from crimes by me. Mostly. However, outside of the Haruno district is another story. The shinobi of the village are subdued, not for this. They only go along because this is a chance to avoid more bloodshed among the village. And the villagers themselves still despise you, really. No one wants Uchiha Itachi in the village again, and Pein and Konan are responsible for current living conditions. Sasori and Deidara were responsible for an attack on Konaha's greatest ally, the Kazakage- while Hidan and Kakuzu are responsible for the death of one of Konaha's most popular ninja, Asuma Sarutobi, leaving his love Kurinai, also popular, alone with his child. Kisame and Zetsu are both less personal, in particular. But the rest of you, the villagers all despise for personal reasons. Which is why this is the greatest, most logical way to earn trust- by personally showing apology."

Gazes were swapped around the table, some of them shaded with guilt. But they all seemed to be in agreement, and at last Pein nodded as all eyes were turned on him. "We shall commence operation bake sale."

…

…

…

AKATSUKI BAKE SALE!

…

…

…

Pein was going to keep everyone in line during the task, while also monitoring crowd control, because the citizens and Akatsuki weren't on good terms. Some of the hotter headed Akatsuki might start a fight. Konan wanted to ice the cakes. Deidara volunteered to help bake them, mostly because it was the only job where he could play with an oven, and make flour explosions… this, Sakura didn't quite know yet.

Sasori ended up with the job of making the banner and flyers. Itachi was going to basically plan it out completely- where the sale would take place, the types of cakes or cookies or whatever to make, and so on. Zetsu volunteered to help gather supplies for the baking, and Kisame was tasked setting up the bake sale location. Kakuzu was going to manage the money flow- buying ingredient, selling product, and donations to the village which is an option as well. Hidan, much to everyone's surprise, volunteered to assist Konan with icing.

Sakura wasn't going to have a particular drop, she and Pein had decided, she would simply make sure everyone's job was running smoothly.

At the moment, Sakura padded long side Zetsu and Itachi, heading out of the Haruno district. They were just stepping out of the head family circle to the main board walk, a nearby family circle's main room door opened.

Sakura and her two escorts stopped together at the board walk to section 2, where the door had opened, as a set of dark-haired shinobi from Team Twighlight padded up. Sasuke, Sai, and a third who was joining team dawn and sent from Hoshigakure.

Sakura smiled at Sai and Sasuke, nodding her greeting to the third woman in the group. "Itachi, Zetsu, this is Sai. You know Sasuke, of course. And that is Tsukiko, from Star." She explained to her Akatsuki companion pair.

Sai offered his fake smile as always when he met new people, "greetings, Team Dawn." Tsukiko did nothing but blink her dark grey, almost black eyes.

Sasuke nodded briefly to Zetsu, gave Itachi an unreadable look, and then looked to Sakura. "We are to escort you where you must go, though I'm sure you're very capable." He gave her a very apologetic look through the Uchiha-famous black-blue eyes.

Sakura merely grinned at him. "You know I don't mind at all. It seems I never get to see you unless we go on missions together, and we haven't been on the same team since we both got our ANBU squads." She glanced to Sai with a scolding face. "And you, Mr. busy-foundation-restorer." She huffed, turning with a pout. "I honestly see Tsukiko more then you two- and I've only ever had her say more than a single word to me once! And that was about a mission!"

Sai looked at her with a confused face, pulling out his awkward book. "I thought when a woman complains about a boy not being around enough they were either in a romantic relationship or have recently become long-distance…"

Sakura sighed, reaching forward to snap the little book closed. "Sai, you're as dumb as Naruto, honestly."

"And you're as mean as ever, hag." Sai answered her with a smile.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, elbowing his teammate lightly. "Let's just get going, I'm supposed to be working with Team Sparrow in a few hours."

Sakura chuckled, "fine, fine, whatever. Already trying to ditch me, no one was telling you to come. Anyway, I think it would be best to split up. Zetsu-san, Itachi-san? Ok with you both?"

"That would be fine, Haruno-sensei." Itachi's cool response was agreed with by a nod from Zetsu.

Before Sakura had the chance to think up who should go with whom, Sasuke announced "Itachi can come with me and Tsukiko, you and… him can take Sai."

"His name is Zetsu." Sakura filled Sasuke in for when he had hesitated for a name, then looked to the black haired girl still completely wordless in the back of the group. "Does the arrangement work with you, Tsukiko?"

"hai." Was the only answer in a neither feminine nor masculine voice, without a hint of emotion.

"Itachi? Zetsu?" she asked lightly, because since the war the bad air between the now only remaining Uchiha boys had been cleared out and freshened to smell like a new car. And, she doubted Zetsu would care if Itachi and Sai traded places in their little group.

Itachi nodded his resignation, stepping once to the side to join the fully-black-haired group, while Sai took one forward to join the oddly-colored pink and green haired pair.

As hey wordlessly broke off and padded down different paths, Sai shot her a look. "It's only polite to ask _everyone_ if they are good with a plan."

"I did ask everyone. Everyone who mattered." Sakura responded, somewhat joyful. For what reason did she have to be unhappy~? The sky may still be cloudy, but Sakura didn't hate rain. Konaha was fairly dry, rain was welcome. And it looked like her plan was running ever so well.

Sai did his not-so-much-caring-almost-pout-thing-he-does-that- really-doesn't-look-like-a-pout-but-it-was-his-pou t-in-his-own-way face. Because Sai doesn't pout. He's foundation. "Why are you so mean, hag?"

"Why do you keep calling me hag when I'm the only drop-dead-sexy chick who will ever talk to you?" the pinkette chirped cheerfully, a wide grin on her face. Even though Sai wouldn't get the joke, he'd probably say something like-

"What are you talking about, hag? Women talk to me all the time."

… Yeah, something like that. That's what he would say.

"Tsunade giving you a mission doesn't count." Sakura teased back at her white-and-black colored friend. Hm… wow, those really were the only colors on his body. "You need to get a tan, your skin's as colorless as paper."

Sai observed his lesser-sleeved arm in curiosity of skin color, and Sakura suddenly remembered that Zetsu was walking a few inches behind her. _Huh, never thought I could forget someone like Zetsu…_

She glanced back at him, wondering if her and Sai's bickering was annoying him, only to find his white half was smirking in amusement. This really just surprised her. "Oh, so you think I'm funny, do you? On the topic of skin, you're not much better." Sakura snorted, turning forward again with a laugh.

Sai gave her a look like she was inviting death into her front door, and Sakura gave him a what-the-hell-are-you-looking-at look, though for a second there she did wonder if she would piss off the cannibal. However, a second after the feeling hit her it was dissolved in a deep laughter-chuckle that probably belonged to a cereal killed in a cartoon. You know. 'Mwuhahahaha'…

The sound of Darker Zetsu's laughter sent a chill up her spine thanks to the monotone, but also brought a little more of a smile to her lips that she _could_ get him to laugh. He had been so quite that she hadn't heard him speak once since he had shown up in Konaha.

"**You are indeed a very funny kunoichi, Sakura-**_**sensei…**_" the word sensei was a little odd, as if he were testing the use of the word.

Sai looked to Sakura curiously. "How did you manage to get Akatsuki to call you their 'sensei', hag?"

Sakura shrugged. "Pein has been calling me 'Sensei'… so I guess some of the more respectable ones are just doing as he does. Though I have no clue why Pein is calling me sensei- of all Akatsuki, we are equal in authority."

"Maybe he does so to help your authority as a stranger among Akatsuki…?" Sai pointed out.

Sakura shrugged, turning sharply on her heal, walking backwards. "Any clue there, Mr. Zetsu?" she asked with a grin.

"It is as the boy said." Zetsu's white half answered.

Sakura turned her head to Sai. "See? It helps to know a spy." The pinkette purred, and the raven haired boy smiled at her, and just a second before he spoke, she tripped over a slightly raised board in the walk way.

Sakura swore she heard someone yell 'tiiiiimbeeerrrr' in the background as the backwards-walking girl feel down, hitting her head on the wood. "fuuuuuuudge." She spat.

"Teach you to walk like that, hag." Sai chuckled, offering her a hand.

She pouted, not like his weird emotionless-guy-pout, but full-puffy cheeks and arm crossing. "Saaaiiiiiii, shut uuuuupppp, it huuuuurts!" she whined irritably as she took his soft artist hand in her own and he pulled her easily to her feet. "You big stupid…"

…

…

…

Zetsu watched as the pink haired girl bickered with the odd black haired Twighlight member.

Even after her fall, Sakura was still as care free as a toddler, moments latter joking about things he didn't know much about, like some girl called Hinata that the kyuubi apparently had an infatuation with.

While one half of his head- the black half- monitored Sai, who kept watching him with a cautious look, his white half's mind continues to wonder over this situation. He had agreed very much with Pein's peace plan. Just because he was created by Tobi as an artificial human, that didn't mean he was on-board with the destruction of the world.

However, he also didn't much care to be thought of as a captive or a prisoner- nor did he want to BE one. This Sai kid was acting like he was his guard. And he caught the occasional ANBU around the Haruno district.

As Sakura tripped, he noted that the two currently watching masked hidden figures tensed as if they figured he had done it.

To hell with them, Zetsu had been second to agree with Pein's idea, after Konan. And yes, he understood the village wanted to be cautious, but none the less, however reasonable he knew it was, it still annoyed the shit out of him.

But just when he would get angry, he would tune into the amusing conversation of the pink haired 'sensei' and her old teammate and friend, and be amused again. At least until Sai looked at him funny once more, and the cycle would repeat…

God damn Konaha Nins…


	5. Announcement! (not part of story)

**announcement to all readers from Neko-sama**

Syrian Arab Revar  
Mauritius  
Bulgaria  
Kuwait  
Bosnia and Herzegovina

you see those places i listed? those are all places i have NEVER EVEN HEARD OF.

yet somehow, i have at least 2 readers following me from those places.

my precious babies i love you all so very much. after 2 months of inactivity you still comment within the first 10 minutes of a story TWELVE TIMES.

there are some people i would like to personally promote.

you people have praised the crummy song lyrics i made up in some of them, even one of my precious extra cup-cake-y followers sang it and put it on youtube,

_Reira Honjo._

you people give me and the Rebel Queens the comments of a lifetime, hilarious and praising and detailed and perfect.

_MinaBlahBlahBlahAnimeFan_ for your hilarity and constant reviews.

_Babybroant_ for being a dedicated reader.

_Guest: Connie Davis_ for being so attached to my stories.

_Akatsukilover15_ for being a complete cookie for taking on my poor orphaned story 'Yours Truely'.

_KarrineWinchester_ for your frequent reviews, i can count on your appearance.

_asredwer_ fore your honesty and help in spotting my mishaps

_moonloonstar _for your detailed reviewing in 'speechless' and other, i love to read those longer reviews so much!

i love you all, as well as all my others who take the time to AT LEAST type 'write soon' or 'love it'. it makes my day when every two weeks i get to come and see your beautiful words and i read them ALL. i even respond once in a while, so if you ask a question just stick it in a review and it SHALL be answered!

and remember how much i love you ALL!


End file.
